Apaw-Wawase Residents Drink From Algae-Infested Stream

Residents of Apaw-Wawase, a community in the Ayensuano district of the Eastern Region, are calling on government and organisations for help as they have been without potable water for about a year.

The community currently relies on an algae-infested stream as its source of water for drinking and for all domestic purposes.

The Eastern regional team chanced on some children fetching water from the eye-disturbing stream in the Apaw-Wawase community and after enquiry, they confirmed that was their source of water for all purposes.

Kwesi Tawiah, the assemblyman for the area, lamented that the water had had adverse health implications on the residents, especially the children.

He confirmed that the stream was currently the source of water for the community and its school children “where they quench their thirst when it is break time”.

The Assemblyman said he and the community leaders had earlier approached the Ayensuano District Assembly on several occasions but said the then District Chief Executive (DCE) told them that the community’s malfunctioned boreholes could not be repaired.

“The DCE told us that if the government provides us water and we don’t collect fees to maintain the boreholes, it wouldn’t come and repair it when it breaks down.

So for over a year now, all the five boreholes in the community have broken down for which we are compelled to resort to the stream for water,” he said.

Mr Tawiah, therefore, appealed to government, individuals, and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to assist the Apaw-Wawase community with provision of potable water.